The usually sombre proceedings in Parliament turned into a violent free for all a week ago. With the people’s representatives of all sizes and ages engaging in fist fights and all kinds of behaviour found in a kindergarten playhouse - pushing, shoving, rolling down in a pack, somersaulting and yelling. Some were spotted posing for selfies in the midst of the commotion.
Yet it wasn’t children at play at all. It was adults shaming themselves and the country at large in front of a stunned audience, local as well as international. It was indeed a miracle that no one was badly hurt in the violent stampede or melee.
The MPs were seen smashing and thrashing things in sight, quite oblivious to the fact that those were the property of the same legislature that they were elected to serve. It is the property maintained by the tax money of the voters who elected them to office.
Riot captured by sound system
The biggest damage by the November 14 in-House riot was captured by the electronic sound system of the Chamber, a senior member of the parliamentary staff told the Sunday Observer. The upset MPs grabbed the microphones and the wires of the sound system taking them apart. MP Dilum Amunugama sustained injuries to his hand as a result and he was taken to the Parliament medical room to dress his bleeding wound.
The glass partition of the Parliament officers’ stand, which was located to the left of the Speaker’s chair was also damaged in the melee.
The House turned into a mini battleground soon after Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, in a seemingly tit for tat move, announced a sudden and an unusual vote on a no-confidence-motion against newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. The motion had been presented by the JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake minutes before.
The motion had neither reached the MPs nor the Order Paper/Agenda of the day. Earlier, TNA MP M.A.Sumanthiran proposed a motion to suspend Standing Orders which was seconded by JVP MP Vijitha Herath to enable the No Confidence Motion and a vote in the House. Moving the motion MP Sumanthiran announced, the standing orders were suspended to carry out the business for the day according to an agenda decided by the House then and there.
The Speaker announced the vote was valid but President Maithripala Sirisena rejected the ‘voice vote’ instructing a fresh vote in keeping with the Standing Orders.
The government members said the Speaker took part in a conspiracy to take the ‘illegal vote’ to make the leader of his party Ranil Wickremesinghe the PM again. According to pro government factions, the Speaker rendered an entire nation speechless by his actions while the UNF parliamentarians argued that the government of PM Rajapaksa had to step down.
The MPs from the government side protested in chorus that the Speaker must follow the proper procedure to take the confidence vote. According to Standing Orders, they said, a no confidence motion against a Minister, an MP or the PM must be given three days after presenting, before it can be taken up for debate.
It was also pointed out that no confidence motions against former Ministers of Health and Finance Rajitha Senaratne and Ravi Karunanayake were still pending in Parliament, months after their submission to the Speaker.
Disrespect by junior MPs
Then an attempt to take a second vote on the no Confidence Motion on November 16 too ended in utter chaos, within Chambers were white clad MPs exchanging blows and throwing water contaminated with chillie powder bringing a veteran UNP politician close to tears, not because of the sting of the chillies but for the disrespect shown by the junior MPs who prepared the ‘concoction’.
Whatever that led to the unruly behavior in Parliament for two days will cost the country several lakhs of rupees, if not millions, even if the cost will be borne by insurance.
The Parliament complex was insured with the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation about two decades ago but a comprehensive assessment by the insurance officials covering the furniture, equipment and the building complex was conducted about ten years ago, the Sergeant-at-Arms Narendra Fernando said.
“This is the second time insurance officials were called in to Parliament to assess damage done to its property, the first being after the 2010 floods,” he said, adding that that was a natural disaster unlike now.
However, the recent Parliament brawl is expected to cost less than the damage caused in the 2010 floods.
“During the floods the entire ground floor of the Parliament building was inundated,” the Sergeant-at-Arms said. The flood’s damage stood at Rs. 40 million.
The ‘hot seat’
The Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation was carrying out the assessment work for a second day on Thursday and the report was not finalised even by Saturday morning.
An internal assessment was conducted by the Department of the Coordinating Engineer who is in charge of maintaining and servicing all electrical and structural property in Parliament.
The Speaker’s Chair, which was the centre of the controversy however, sustained minor damage and it was ready for use after a fresh coating of varnish.
Last Monday, the Deputy Speaker occupied the ‘hot seat’ to carry out the day’s business of the House, which lasted for only five minutes but this time without any untoward incident. The Speaker kept away from the proceedings that day. But he attended Parliament thereafter.
However, the table where the ceremonial mace was placed suffered heavy blows and it had to undergo major repairs prior to the next session.
The Former Sergeant-At-Arms, who retired in August this year after an illustrious tenure, Anil Parakrama Samarasekera told the Sunday Observer, he had not witnessed such unruly behaviour in his 22-year-service in Parliament.
In retrospect, he said the most chaotic incident in his memory was the physical abuse suffered by Ven. Kolonnawe Sri Sumangala Thera, where MP Mervin Silva was involved in and later the thera had to be rushed to hospital.
“But even then the equipment or the furniture within the Chamber was not touched,” he said adding that during the conflict phase, he remembers the TNA MPs blocking him from bringing the ceremonial mace to the Chamber prior to the commencement of sittings.